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Loeries Special Section

Creative Circle Awards: Local proves it's a winner

Ogilvy took top honours last night at the Creative Circle's Annual Awards. Ogilvy Johannesburg won the Creative Circle's Annual Individual Agency Award and the Ogilvy Group the Overall Group Award.
Flanked by his wife Tabitha, Alistair King is inducted into the Creative Circle Hall of Fame. Image provided.
Flanked by his wife Tabitha, Alistair King is inducted into the Creative Circle Hall of Fame. Image provided.

The runner-up in both categories is the King James Group. The agency had a lot to celebrate on the night as it also won two of the seven category awards, Digital and Interactive, and Integrated for its Uk’shona Kwelanga campaign for its client Sanlam.

Co-founder and group creative director of the King James Group, Alistair King was also inducted into the Creative Circle Hall of Fame at the event, which took place at Katy’s Palace Bar in Sandton, Gauteng.

Constant push to be original

David Krueger and Tammy Retter, group heads at Ogilvy, says being awarded the top accolades at the Creative Circle Awards is testimony to creativity. “Being creative requires hard work and pushing clients to be more original. There is a constant push to be original.”
Both also believe it is about trust. “Ogilvy leadership allows us to build relationships of trust and the creativity follows from that.”

King James copywriter, Kagiso Tshepe, is thrilled that the success of the Uk’shona Kwelanga campaign. “This work is essentially South African, so it is inspiring to be recognised for that. It reflects a truly South African experience – there are no international ideas present.”

Uk’shona Kwelanga is a campaign for Sanlam’s funeral scheme offering that used WhatsApp text messages, voice notes, and videos to tell the story of a family planning a funeral.

Speaking about using WhatsApp as a medium, he says it was a no-brainer. “It’s where your audience. However, you need to use the correct language. Digital does not allow for complicated language.”

Tshepe adds that it a campaign close to his heart as he went through what the family in the campaign go through a few months before. “The campaign came from an honest place.”

Intoxicating joy of being recognised

In accepting his award, Alistair King, confessed that this was “quite a moment for me.” He told the gatherers, who gave him a standing ovation twice, that long ago at his first Loeries ceremony in Sun City, he learnt that not all awards are equal. “There are some advertisements anyone can do and then there are ones that solve a tough brief.” It is with the second one in mind that he co-founded King James and has approached his work.

“For me, nothing’s more satisfying than to do spectacular advertising for a client that no one really expects it from and it has never been a more important time for agencies in our industry to fundamentally make a difference to the bottom line of our clients’ business and not just the already sexy and already award-winning clients, but the clients who have not already tasted the intoxicating joy of being recognised. The transformation of the previously disadvantaged brands, that’s my mission and it always will be.”

Other winners include TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris Johannesburg in the Experiential category for their client Flight Centre for the campaign Babybot. Grey is the recipient of the Outdoor and Out of Home (OOH) category for its Satellifes campaign for Grey Design. DDB South Africa walked away with the Print category for the campaign “He She - Eric, Ethan, Frasier, Steve” for the Commission of Gender Equality. Ogilvy South Africa’s KFC Sad Man Meal won the Radio category while Young and Rubicam took the TV and Cinema category for “Salt Heals Wounds” for client Surfshack.

At the Awards the new Creative Circle chairperson, TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris' CCO Peter Gabriel Khoury for the next two years, was also announced.

All the Creative Circle Annual Award Winners: 2017

Digital and Interactive

Entry AgencyPrizeBrandTitle
King James GroupFirstSanlamUk’Shona Kwelanga
NATIVE VMLSecondHuffPost SAStop The Cycle
Ogilvy JohannesburgThirdKFCKFC Soundbite Chart

Experiential

Entry AgencyPrizeBrandTitle
TBWA\Hunt Lascaris JohannesburgFirstFlight CentreBabyBot
TBWA\Hunt Lascaris JohannesburgSecondGoodbye MalariaBeautiful Pathogens
NORTH VCAThirdPolycoPacka-Ching

Integrated

Entry AgencyPrizeBrandTitle
King James GroupFirstSanlamUk’Shona Kwelanga
Ogilvy JohannesburgSecondKFCKFC Soundbite Chart
Ogilvy JohannesburgThirdKFCKFC Suppertime Stories

Outdoor and Out of Home

Entry AgencyPrizeBrandTitle
GreyFirstSatellifeGrey Design
Y&RSecondJoburg ZooConservation Animals – Frog, Bird, Snake, Bat
Ogilvy JohannesburgThirdViacomMTV #FCKHIV – Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink

Print

Entry AgencyPrizeBrandTitle
DDB South AfricaFirstCommission for Gender EqualityHe She – Eric, Ethan, Frasier, Steve
FoxP2 AdvertisingSecondNational Geographic Kids MagazinesNature never gets old – Frog, Sprout
Joe PublicThirdOne School at a TimeUnsanitary Pads

Radio

Entry AgencyPrizeBrandTitle
Ogilvy JohannesburgFirstKFCSad Man Meal – No One Cheerses, Long red thin shape, Repeat the Punchline
FCB AfricaSecondCell CiGugu – Lebo, Nomsa, SIya
Grey Advertising AfricaThirdDuracellTimes Change, Power Doesn’t – Britney, Harry, Paris

TV, Video and Cinema

Entry AgencyPrizeBrandTitle
Y&RFirstSurfshackSalt
FCB JoburgSecondSouth African TourismBheki the uMbaco Maker
FCB Cape TownThirdWestern Cape GovernmentSafely Home “Boys TVC”

About Danette Breitenbach

Danette Breitenbach is a marketing & media editor at Bizcommunity.com. Previously she freelanced in the marketing and media sector, including for Bizcommunity. She was editor and publisher of AdVantage, the publication that served the marketing, media and advertising industry in southern Africa. She has worked extensively in print media, mainly B2B. She has a Masters in Financial Journalism from Wits.
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